Cybersecurity Awareness Month – A Look Ahead

October has been designated Cybersecurity Awareness Month. In 2009, President Obama recognized the need to increase education and dialogue about cybersecurity. As part of this policy review, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was asked to create an ongoing cybersecurity awareness campaign. The Stop.Think.Connect. Campaign that is highlighted in the month of October is a national public awareness effort challenging the American public to be more vigilant about practicing safer online habits.

With this attention on the far-ranging topic of cybersecurity, a number of events are planned for the IT community to educate and collaborate. In this post we wanted to highlight the range of events professionals have to choose from this month.

• Department of Homeland Security - DHS in cooperation with the National Cyber Security Alliance and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center are driving public recognition of the month and the topic as well as hosting a number of events across the full spectrum of security from casual home users, to innovation in the tech sector, to cooperation with law enforcement. Check out their site with tips on how to help spread awareness of the month, events, and share cyber challenges.

• The Washington Post kicks off the month with a half-day Cybersecurity Summit on October 1 that will bring together policy leaders, agency experts and industry leaders for conversations on the latest in cybersecurity and defense. Topics include: A Cyber Strategy for National Security, Protecting Critical Infrastructure, Securing Credit Cards and Clouds, and Public-Private Collaboration and the Future of Cyber Space.

• Homeland Security Week hosted by IQPC. This complimentary four-day event will feature over 40 high level presentations on Homeland Security that will discuss the most pressing issues facing the homeland defense community including cybersecurity. October 6-9 in Washington, DC.

• NDIA's Cyber Security Symposium in Springfield, VA on Oct 7-8 will focus on how organizations are implementing the National Institute for Standards and Technology Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure and the Framework Core, establishing five functions of a cybersecurity program and three levels of maturity in implementing those functions.

• Detecting Cyber Intrusions Within, a complimentary morning briefing on October 21. This DC event will look at Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) and more specifically, the people problem of preventing employees from accessing government data they don't need. This collaborative event with FedInsider, George Washington University and immixGroup features speakers from DHS, GSA, SEC, and Commerce.

• Federal Business Council is working with a number of federal agencies and military installations to host a variety of cyber-related expos in October including: NASA Goddard Cyber Expo on October 2; Hill AFB Technology & Cybersecurity Day on October 8; of Energy HQ Cybersecurity Awareness Day on October 8; Library of Congress Cybersecurity Awareness Day on the 23^rd; DOE Germantown Cybersecurity Awareness Day also on the 23^rd; Cybersecurity and IT Day at Fort Carson on October 28; and, Cybersecurity and IT Day at Peterson AFB on October 29. There is no fee to attend these events.

What about you? What events are you planning on attending this month? Share your plans and your feedback on those events in the comments.

Image from: http://www.dhs.gov/national-cyber-security-awareness-month-2014